Red, so red
by DarkRose2009
Summary: What are Scorpius' true feelings about her red, red hair? And who is she? Rose Weasley, of course.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Post-Hogwarts and Post-war. Underneath the mean insults between Scorpius and Rose, could there be something else about them? Read and find out! A short ficlet about Scorpius' obsession with Rose Weasley's hair.

Disclaimer : I don't own the characters and the plot's been done, million of times over, but give it a chance! Don't judge it by it's first chapter! Inspired by Anne of Green Gables!

He watched her from afar, in the classroom. He always did that when she wasn't looking at him. They scuffled with each other and got into skirmishes in the corridors, he even called her names and insulted her family, and everything else. He always did that too. In fact, ever since his first fateful meeting with her on the train, when his Father Draco Malfoy and his Mother, Astoria Greengrass, were accompanying him on the train station, he decided he liked her fiery red hair, and her fierce temper that matched with it. Rose, he saw, took an instant dislike at him. She didn't even look at him, when he was looking at her, trying to make eye contact with her, while on the train, when she was buying foods for herself and her family.

"I didn't know you had money, Weasley and your hair, it's like carrots!" Scorpius was insulting her family and calling her poor. But more over, he dared to say her hair was like carrots. To her, this was the paramount of insults.

"Malfoy, I don't have time for this!" Rose responded back, with a toss of her red hair that flowed down her neck, which made her very beautiful, in Scorpius' eyes.

And from that moment on, Scorpius and Rose were always at each other' throats, with him calling poorer than dirt all the time, and making fun of her red hair. Rose, on the surface, didn't mind Scorpius' calling her names, but Scorpius didn't know she shed tears about it in secret. If he knew, he would have hexed or jinxed himself into oblivion, for making his not so secret crush cry. If truth to be told, the whole Slytherin House knew about it and Scorpius himself, would sometimes deny it when another Slytherin asked him about why he's been ogling at her during class.

He dreamt about her at night, and she was even in his daydreams, and he just wanted to touch a red lock of her hair. He knew Rose liked to call it "auburn", because she hated her red hair. And he thought she was cute, and that her red hair made her brighter for him.

And dear Merlin, she was the most intelligent witch of their year, always so eager to answer questions in class, determined not to be beaten by him or any Slytherin for that matter. He didn't know why she was this way towards him. How much he wanted her to change her mind about him and how much he really wished he could discuss lessons with her! But alas, this wasn't going to be an easy task for him. And he didn't know her father Ronald Weasley ordered her to be this way towards him.

Most of other students got used to them, calling each other names, and teasing each other for a whole 3 years. But Rose couldn't know about his innermost thoughts on her, and that he too deep down, was hurt by their seemingly harmless fights. For 3 years, he had the leisure to observe her red hair, and he didn't know why, but he was incredibly fascinated by her hair's color. He never saw anything as red as her hair. "_Such a vivid and passionate colour_!" He didn't get over that matter even after 3 years of calling her poor and ugly though.

In fact, in his heart, he was thinking just the opposite about her : she was a stunning and gorgeous girl and just the most beautiful redhead for him in the whole Wizarding World. If he could just touch her hair once, he would feel satisfied. But she never let him near her, and always threatened to hex or jinx him. And her brothers and cousins, always there to protect her against him. It was nearly impossible for him to achieve his dreams : touching her hair just this once. And in 3 years, his childish crush on her grew into a one-sided love, or he presumed Rose hated him for refusing to call her hair "auburn". And one night, after she got a terrible sunburn, and from where he was, in the Castle's grounds, he saw her skin was scorched by the Sunlight. He knew of a way to cure her sunburn magically, however, he couldn't show her just how much he cared about her, so he abstained himself from running to her and telling her about how to treat her injured skin by the Sunlight. And he never let Rose know he knew about her skin problems, or else she would know just how much he cared about her, and he didn't want her to just yet because he didn't want to face her rejection.

In his 3rd year at Hogwarts's School of Witchcraft and Wizadry, he realized he was obsessed about her red hair. He talked about it with his friends, and didn't know what to do with it.

"Well, you're love-sick, Scorpius!" concluded Parkinson for him and he couldn't stand her squealing over it.

"Scorps, you know, it's unhealthy when you have such an obsession about someone's hair colour!"

"But it's just so unbelievably red!"

"Yes I know, her hair's red, that's an established fact! Now, I'm going to bed, if you have nothing more interesting to say to me!" said Parkinson, finally tired of him always telling her about how red Rose Weasley's hair was. That night, he was starting to seriously think about his obsession for Rose's hair colour.

"I need to get over it!" said Scorpius to himself, in the Slytherins' dormitory, after talking to his fellow Housemates.

Read and Review : it's going to be a 3 chapters short story!


	2. Chapter 2

Rose, now in her 4th year, was, reflecting back on all the skirmishes and all the fights she had with Scorpius Malfoy, especially her first meeting with him and his family on platform 9 and 3/4. She never forgot how he insulted her family because they were poor, and even dared to say her hair was "as red as carrots". That insulted her and hurt her feelings more than anything, more than any insults Scorpius threw at her in her 3 years of schooling. "How dare he!" She thought at that time. However, with time, she grew more and more into a mature young woman, rather than a young girl, so she decided the best course of action for her to take was to ignore him. "_I won't let him ruin my school years for me like I did in the past 3 years." _

And so she ignored him, not letting his scathing insults get to her. But by ignoring him, for 2 whole years, she didn't know how awful Scorpius felt, and he was just trying to get closer to her. Rose thought he had some problem with her red hair, as he couldn't stop calling it "red". But she let it slide, as she didn't want him to spoil her fun years with his always baiting her after class.

"Well, he's doing it on purpose." She said to herself, once, after having done all her schoolwork and memorized by heart her next lesson on History of Magic. They were going to cover the 2 most recent wizarding wars and of course, famous Witches and Wizards like Harry Potter and her own father and mother. She knew aunt Ginny admired Uncle Harry a lot, and was in 7th heaven when they published his autobiography. But she couldn't let her thoughts wander too much, so she forced herself to think about the matter at hand : Scorpius Malfoys' obvious obsession with her red hair. Never once, did he say it was "auburn", like all the others did in school. So thus, she thought he was doing it on purpose. Before that, in her previous 3 years, she would get highly insulted and would even react to his calling her hair "red", however now, having ample time to think it over, she was less insulted by this. She wasn't going to give him any satisfaction of seeing her angry, or bothered by it. In truth, interiorly, she was still slightly offended by his calling her that, however, she was smart enough not to show it. But as she did that, he in no way, did lessen it. So she resolved to just not mind it anymore.

"What?" asked her cousin Albus.

"Malfoy's been calling my hair red!"

"Again?" asked Teddy.

"Yes again!"

"He did that for 4 whole years!"

"Yes I know. And from now on, whatever he throws at me, I'm going to ignore it, because I'm just so sick of him calling my hair red. Why can't he call it 'auburn' for once, like everybody does?"

"Well, his Father, Draco Malfoy, according to your father, was a git, so his son is prone to be one as well." said Victoire.

"Yes, true, but it's been 4 years already! You'd think he'd be over calling me 'redhead' and coming up with something new. I'm just so sick of him calling my hair red."

"You want him to stop?"

"Yes, Victoire."

"I think, he's just obsessed with your hair color and thinks it's pretty." said Victoire. Rose thought she was out of her mind.

"What have you been on?"

"Nothing. But hear me out, please, Rose, he's obviously obsessed with your hair color."

"You think he thinks it's pretty? Then why in Merlin would he call it 'red' when he knows I hate that colour and I think my red hair is horrible?"

"He probably thinks it's a compliment, Rose. Red must be a very pretty colour for him." And her cousin was right on spot with this. Scorpius did indeed, like red in general, hence why Rose stroke him as a very very lovely girl, but she couldn't know she was the apple of his eyes.

"All of you are crazy! And anyway, that crazy jerk tried to touch my hair in class!"

"Because he can't get any attention from you any other way, since you ignore him in the corridors and stuff." Victoire's logic, was incomprehensible to Rose. She honestly thought her cousin was mad.

"Do you really think so?"

"Yes. Try and let him touch your hair for once."

"What, I won't let that creep touch my hair!

"Rose, think about it, the only way to help him get rid of his obsession with your red hair is to let him touch it, he probably is just fascinated by it." The more Rose thought about it, she more she thought her cousin was out of her mind.

"Victoire, how can you suggest such a thing? I'm not letting my cousin anywhere near that Malfoy jerk. He's been creepily obsessed with her hair colour, ever since our first meeting with him. Albus just joined in their conversation.

"But think about Scorpius, and how to help him grow out of it."

"4 years already! He should have gotten over Rosie's hair being red." commented Al.

"Emphasis on the 'should'. I still think, Rose, you ought to let him touch it, just this once."

"You think it's the only way?"

"Yes, Rose."

Rose sighed, it was useless for her to argue with Victoire. And in her 4th year, she still didn't let Scorpius anywhere near her hair, nor let him see her hot tears of humiliation whenever he called her that. And in her schoolwork, she was determined to not be surpassed by him, so she poured her heart and soul into her studies. This in part, made her forget about his sneering comments on her red hair. And he too, she noticed, was as determined as she to get 'Os' for every assignment in class. This pushed her to overwork herself and such. Before that, in her first 3 years, the rivalry in school was only one-sided on her part and she remembered Scorpius did sincerely congratulate her in front of the whole class once, in her 2nd year, when she answered a question right and got some Housepoints for Gryffindor because of it. And then, he too, she saw, ever since she chose to not let his snide remarks about her hair get to her anymore, he chose to compete with her in every subject as well.

It was a year after she talked to Victoire about her problem with Scorpius Malfoy, in her 5th year, and her rivalry with him was just as intense as ever. And he still called her hair that terrible colour's name. And then, one evening, she thought about it, talking to Victoire was no use for her, since she would spew the same nonsense and would be telling her to let that creep Malfoy touch her hair.

"By Merlin, I wouldn't let Malfoy touch my hair." She said resolutely. And Victoire still hasn't changed her mind about it, so she told her cousin :

"You should."

"And why should I?"

"Because you want him to stop that, yes?"

"Yes. I want him to stop that. But I'm still not letting him touch an ounce of my hair." Victoire sighed this time. It was a pain in the ass for her to talk to her cousin since she inherited her mother's, Hermione Granger's stubbornness.

"Well, I can't help you anymore since you refuse to listen to me."

"I never wanted your help." Victoire left in a huff, leaving her cousin alone with her thoughts.

"Maybe, just maybe, she's right. I should let Malfoy touch my hair, just once. But how awkward it's going to be for me! How should I go about it? Hey Malfoy, I'm going to let you touch my hair because you're obsessed with it?" Rose was saying to herself. And she couldn't see Scorpius was also trying his hardest, to restrain himself from calling her hair "red" these past years, but couldn't, because he had gotten into a habit of calling her that, ever since meeting her in their first year. 5 years passed since he first insulted her hair by calling it red. And Rose still remembered every details of it : the arrogant sound of his voice, and the derision in his voice too, was echoing in her teenage mind. However, what she couldn't know, was that indeed, as her cousin Victoire told her, Scorpius just wanted to touch her hair just this once, and was wishing to apologize to her, but couldn't, due to his finding her too beautiful, especially her hair, her most prominent physical trait. And she made it impossible for him to get close to her physically too. And so Scorpius's fascination, no obsession, grew more and more, until he even saw her red braids in his dreams every night, since she began ignoring him in her 4th year. And ignore him she did, for 2 years.

How did you find it? Please read and review it, thank you!


	3. Chapter 3

Scorpius Malfoy couldn't let this go on any longer. 5 years and he let Rose believe he hated her red hair. He found out about it after he spied on Victoire and her cousins' talk about his always calling her hair "red". He had now somewhat gotten used to seeing it, but he couldn't grow out of his old habit of calling her hair homely and that awful colour. Scorpius now noticed her hair grew into a beautiful orange-red, making it brighter than any stars twinkling in the night. But he never let her know about his secret and unrequited feelings, or so he thought for her. And it was because of her hair, that he was attracted to her in the first place. He thought if he wasn't an immature brat and jackass back then and if he did know about her hyper-sensitivity about her hair colour, he wouldn't have said it was "red as carrots." But what's done couldn't be undone, so he had to deal with it, no matter how much he regretted it.

He knew Victoire understood him, because he overheard her talking to Rose about his obsessive thoughts about her hair and was 100% right about it. And she was right too, when she said he called her hair "red" as a compliment to Rose. He thought he could her help with what he was trying to do. So one day after class, and nearing Christmas in his year before his graduating year, he whisked Victoire away in a private corner, so he could talk to her about it.

"Malfoy, what are you doing? Let me go!" Victoire was trying to wrestle her arm away from him, but he held onto it firmly, not letting her go until he talked to her about his obsession with Rose's hair colour.

"Shush, Victoire, I need your help!"

"Let go of my arm, then!"

"Not until I talk to you about my problem with Rose's hair."

"So, what about it?" asked Victoire, also wanting to help him, but she didn't like it as he gripped her right arm firmly.

"Well, you know I've an obsession with her red hair?"

"Well yeah, captain obvious. What's your plans about it?"

"Well, just to tell you, you were right about me wanting to touch her hair."

"You spied on us, you plotting Slytherin!"

"Victoire, will you stop that? I need your help." Scorpius was deliberately more civil and more polite to her, because he needed her help, and without it, he couldn't get his heart's desire.

"Say the magic word : please." said Victoire as her face grew into a wicked sort of smile.

"_Please_." If he weren't so desperate, he wouldn't have said that.

"All right, so you just want to touch her hair, right? Well, I have an idea : I'll just set you two up near a Mistletoe, under the Christmas tree in the Great Hall on Christmas, at around 5 p.m."

"How's that going to help me?"

"Well, as you're bending down to kiss her, try to accidentally touch her hair and apologize to her for everything you've said about her hair then. I know you don't really mean those, right, Malfoy?"

"And no, I never really meant all these things I've said about her being homely and everything. It was just to get her attention."

"So I was right about that all along? Then why didn't you stop calling her hair 'red'? You had bloody 5 years to get used to it."

"Yes, I had five years, but because I had a crush on her when I first met her, I couldn't talk to her civilly, and so I insulted her terribly with calling her hair 'red'. I just couldn't resist it, because it stood out too much for me in the crowd. I can still remember her red locks streaming in the winds as if it were yesterday." Scorpius figured he should be honest with Victoire, since she was trying to help him with his love problems.

"Malfoy, if you really do have feelings for Rose, I think she'll forgive you if you genuinely apologized to her, and besides, Christmas is a time for reunion and reconciliation, and not for hostility and feud. And try to sound as sincere as possible."

"Thank you, Victoire." He really hoped she was right about her cousin.

"And another thing, Malfoy: stop aggravating her with your calling her hair red. Or at least, try to. I'll go and tell my cousin about it."

"I will, thank you, again Victoire."

As Victoire left Malfoy, she went to find Rose in the Gryffindor Common Room. It was a few days before Christmas, and Rose was looking at her hair, again in her the Common Room's talking mirror.

"Malfoys' right, it's so unthinkably red." She now wasn't as sensitive as she was before about her hair anymore, but she still thought it was horribly ugly, especially now, as it grew into an orange-red kind of colour, even more terrible for Rose.

"Yes it is." said the Mirror.

"Hello Rose."

"Oh, Hello Victoire. I saw Malfoy getting you in a corner, what did he want with you?"

"Nothing much, just wanted to talk about his obsession with your hair colour. He thought I would help him, as I understood him better than anyone else."

"How did he know you sympathized with him?"

"Because he overheard us in the corridors."

"That jerk."

"No, Rose, I was right, he really does have romantic feelings for you. And he's trying very hard to apologize to you, yet he just doesn't have the courage to face your wrath. He thinks you hate him for calling your hair red."

"How can I not hate his guts for it?"

"Try to understand it from where he stands, Rose. He even confessed to me, he really does like you."

"He can't like me! He thinks my hair's ugly."

"Yes, he does. He said told me so himself. And no he doesn't think your hair's ugly, he thinks it's a gorgeous colour. You have to believe me, Rose."

"You're insane."

"No, I'm not. It's you, who is too hard-headed to see how much Malfoy likes you, deep underneath his comments and remarks about your hair."

"You're not lying to me?"

"No, I'm your cousin, Rose. I would never, in my life ever lie to you." Rose now half-believed her cousin's words.

"Well, if he likes me, why does he say I'm ugly then. Why does he openly humiliate me about my hair?" She challenged Victoire.

"Because he loses all his control when he's near you, dear cousin. You don't understand how boys work."

"You're right, I don't. But, I don't know how I should…?"

"Approach him? Simple, I told him to get under the Mistletoe on Christmas around 5, and you, just pretend like you're running into him by accident. And he's going to bend down and kiss you, 'accidentally' and he's going to try and touch your hair, you let him, just don't let him see you're doing it purposely."

"Victoire, you should be in Slytherin, not Gryffindor!" Her cousin exclaimed.

"Now now, Rose, it was very simple, anyone could come up with it." said Victoire humbly.

"Anyway, thank you. Victoire." That night before Christmas, Rose came to terms with her own "hatred" for Malfoy. It was all because of a silly misunderstanding. "_Shakespeare's proverb was right : much ado about nothing_._ But why do I want Malfoy and others to say my hair's auburn, when it's just plain red? Am I so vain about my hair?_" thought Rose, disgusted with herself.

A few days after both Malfoy and Rose talked to Victoire about their problems in love, they each minded their own business. Rose was trying to avoid Malfoy at all costs and Malfoy was doing as Victoire told him to do, but he occasionally let an insult slip and Rose promptly ignored him as she always did in these past 2 years. And for her, it worked like a charm. Both waited impatiently for Christmas to come.

Finally, the long-awaited Christmas came and Rose was opening her gifts from her family and friends, as was Scorpius.

"Thank you, Victoire, Albus and Teddy."

"No problem, Rose." She said, when Al and Teddy got out to have a snowball fight. Rose was fidgeting and waiting anxiously for 5 o'clock to strike.

"Don't forget, be subtle." advised Victoire.

"Yes, cousin. I will. Wish me luck. After Victoire wished her good luck, she ran into the Great Hall, and around the Mistletoe, sure enough, Malfoy was standing there, looking as nervous as she was.

"Well, Malfoy, what are you doing here?" acting surprised.

"Nothing, I just don't have anything to do."

"Well, I don't have anything to do either."

"Malfoy, what's with you, you usually love to call my hair red. Your tongue got stuck or what?"

"No, Rose. I just came here to, er, er…" The poor boy was stuttering. It was a beautiful plan when he discussed it with Victoire. Rose now looked up the tree as if by accident, like her cousin instructed her.

"Oh, Malfoy, look a Mistletoe, I must be cursed. We must kiss." Malfoy, eager to kiss her, bent down to her level, and brushed his lips gently on hers. It was heaven for him, kissing his long-time crush, and he forgot all about touching Rose's hair, since a true love's kiss was enough to cure him out of his obsession with her hair's redness. As he kissed her, Rose flushed, a bit pink in the cheeks after they pulled apart for air, and was trying get away from him, but Scorpius still got her in his strong arms.

"Look Rose, will you forgive me for calling your hair 'red', all this time? I really think it's a lovely colour now."

"You do?" Rose knew he did, but she was testing him to see if he were telling the truth. And as she found herself trapped in her "enemy's" eyes, all the resentment she held for him for the past 6 years melted. He was truly trying his best to ask for her forgiveness. Rose was a stubborn girl, but she wasn't heartless. Seeing all the feelings Malfoy had for her in his eyes, made her change her mind about him and it made her heart flutter. But before being his girlfriend, she wanted to be friends with him.

"Yes I do." confirmed Malfoy.

"Right, I forgive you. So friends, Malfoy?"

"Scorpius. I am Scorpius after all, not Malfoy." He corrected her on that.

Scorpius in truth, really hated it whenever she called him by his family name. And so, that was how the two became friends, thanks to Victoire's meddling. And the best of friends they became, for over half a year. And that half a year, he always had to correct her about her calling him "Malfoy", since she called him that for over 6 years, and it wasn't easy for Rose to call him by his first name : Scorpius. But then in their last year, for Rose, he was no longer "Malfoy", but "Scorpius", and he was her Scorpius, and nobody else's.

And as they began their not so clear friendship-dating relationship in their 6th year, other students noted with amusement in their eyes that he finally admitted her hair was indeed a good-looking "auburn", and not that dreadful "red".

And Scorpius asked her to be his official girlfriend and she naturally accepted because she could no longer fight her own growing feelings for him, 1 Christmas after their "accidental" kiss under the Mistletoe, masterminded by Rose's devious cousin, Victoire.

Please share your thoughts about it, thank you!


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